PREP NOTES : Carson Coach Steams Over Cage Playoff Match

The L.A. City Section’s longstanding policy of determining playoff spots before the end of the regular season has at least one basketball coach up in arms.

Jay Park, coach of Carson’s girls team, says it is unfair that the Colts, ranked second in the City by The Times, will probably face top-ranked Crenshaw in the second round of the 16-team 4-A Division playoffs.

“Try to figure that out,” said a disgusted Park. “Why should we have to play them so soon? I can see playing them at the Sports Arena (in the semifinals or final), but to play them in the second round? That’s asinine.”

Unlike the CIF Southern Section, which determined playoff pairings after the regular season, the L.A. City athletic office released its playoff brackets last week. The brackets were filled according to league finish (Metro No. 1 vs. Mid-Valley No. 2), and the appropriate teams were later placed in those spots.

Carson, the Pacific League champion, is seeded No. 2 and at the bottom of the 4-A bracket. Crenshaw, which tied Washington for the Southern League title but lost a coin flip and became the league’s No. 2 playoff entry, is matched in a first-round game directly above Carson, meaning the highly regarded teams will meet in the second round if both win playoff openers Friday.

This situation seemingly could have been avoided if the City had taken more time setting up the bracket, but an administrator said the section has no plans to change the system.

L.A. City athletic specialist Lee Joseph said the section predetermines playoff spots according to league finish in order to give coaches a chance to scout first-round opponents.

“This is something that’s been done for years,” Joseph said. “It’s for scouting purposes.”

Concerning Carson’s complaint, Joseph said: “I’d definitely like to see Crenshaw and Carson meet in the semifinals, but it’s one of those things. I have no problem with our system.”

Park believes Carson (17-3), which beat Crenshaw and Washington during conference play, deserved the No. 1 seed in the playoffs after Crenshaw lost to Washington last week. But, because it was predetermined that the Southern League’s No. 1 entry would be the top seed, that honor went to Washington.

Carson’s girls are enjoying their best season, mainly because of the exceptional play of junior forward Lala Lesa and senior guard Diane Miyake.

Lesa is averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds a game while Miyake averages 15 points and is among team leaders in rebounds, steals and assists.

The Colts, whose only conference loss came against Dorsey when three starters were out with the flu, opens the L.A. City 4-A playoffs at 5:30 p.m. Friday at home against Jordan.

Some coaches are critical of the City Section’s boys 4-A Division bracket where powerhouses Crenshaw (17-2) and Westchester (15-5) will meet in the second round if they get past Friday’s openers.

Westchester is ranked second in the L.A. City by The Times while Crenshaw is fourth.

However, City sports specialist Lee Joseph says he likes the possible early match-up.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad draw,” he said. “Westchester has talent, but they haven’t been playing up to capabilities. So why should I care about them?”

Steve Carroll wanted a smooth break-in as Bishop Montgomery football coach, but this wasn’t what he had in mind.

The school weight room, which Carroll called “about the classiest thing we have on campus,” was burglarized early Friday of equipment worth an estimated $6,272.

“Somebody backed a truck up and took about one-third of the weight room,” said Carroll, who was named the Knights’ coach two weeks ago. “We had just gotten a lot of new equipment and they took most of it. They pretty much knew what to take.”

He said half of the school’s elaborate dumbbell set was stolen, along with barbells, benches, weights and other equipment.

Carroll said Bishop Montgomery is asking for donations to help replace the stolen equipment, which the school spent several years acquiring.

“We sunk a lot of money into that room,” he said. “The bad thing about it is that it hurts the kids. It will cost us a lot of money, but in the long run it ends up costing the kids.”

Anyone with information about the burglary or wishing to make donations can contact Carroll at school at 540-2021.

Rolling Hills basketball Coach Cliff Warren, whose top-seeded Titans opened the Southern Section 3-A playoffs Wednesday night, says there is no clear-cut favorite for the division title.

“It’s very competitive and very balanced,” he said. “I’ve seen every team that has been ranked (in the top 10) and anybody can beat anybody. It’s like the Bay League. There are at least 12 teams that can win it all.”

Warren, who guided Rolling Hills to its third straight Bay League title, rates La Canada, Morningside, Estancia of Costa Mesa, Savanna of Anaheim and Brea-Olinda among the top contenders.

Chris Burton, former freshman basketball coach at Rolling Hills, partially credits Warren for his success as the first-year coach at Fullerton High.

Fullerton finished the regular season with a 16-6 record and tied for the Freeway League title under Burton, 23, the youngest head basketball coach in Orange County. He said he was drawing technical fouls at Rolling Hills until Warren took him aside.

“He said I had to calm down or I couldn’t coach at Rolling Hills anymore.”

Burton coached Rolling Hills’ freshmen to winning records during the 1986 and ’87 seasons and is remembered with fondness by his former mentor.

“We never had any serious problems with Chris,” Warren said. “We had to calm him down a little bit, but he was a great coach for us.”

Because of first-round byes, the number of South Bay teams opening the Southern Section girls basketball playoffs tonight was cut in half.

Hawthorne, West Torrance, Bishop Montgomery, St. Bernard and St. Mary’s Academy of Inglewood will play first-round games at 7:30 tonight. Morningside, Palos Verdes, North Torrance, Inglewood and Chadwick received passes into Saturday’s second round.

Hawthorne (16-9) will play host to Channel Islands (20-7) in a 5-AA Division game. In 4-A, West (16-6) is at home against Pioneer (13-10) and Bishop Montgomery (13-8) entertains Buena Park (11-10). In 3-A, St. Bernard (12-10) is at home against Lompoc (15-8) and, in 2-AA, St. Mary’s plays host to Notre Dame Academy (7-9).

Morningside (25-1) and Palos Verdes (22-3), ranked No. 1 in the state in their divisions by Cal-Hi Sports, are the top seeds in the 5-AA and 4-A playoffs. Palos Verdes will play host to West on Saturday if the Warriors win tonight.

PREP NOTES--Leo Hand, former head football coach at Servite High of Anaheim and St. Anthony of Long Beach, has been named the new coach at Serra. Hand replaces Joe Griffin, Serra athletic director, who stepped down after one season . . . Jeff Beaumont, the new baseball coach at Mira Costa, is looking for a coach for the Mustangs’ junior varsity team. Anyone interested can contact either Beaumont or Athletic Director Herb Hinsche at 379-9895 . . . The Southern Section girls soccer playoffs open today with six 4-A Division games involving South Bay teams. In the most attractive match-up, Bay League champion Hawthorne (21-3-1) plays host to South Torrance (10-4-5), third-place finisher from the Ocean League. Hawthorne is ranked sixth in the division and South is 10th. In other 3 p.m. games, Torrance (14-4-2) is at Edison of Huntington Beach (7-8-5), Ocean League champion Mira Costa (15-4) is at home against Thousand Oaks (12-6), Rolling Hills (9-7-2) travels to third-seeded Royal of Simi Valley (18-1-2), West Torrance (15-4-2) plays host to Dana Hills (15-5-5) and Palos Verdes (11-10-1) visits Marina of Huntington Beach (12-6-2) . . . Two area teams begin play at 3 p.m. today in the Southern Section boys 1-A Division soccer playoffs. Camino Real League champion El Segundo plays host to Calabasas and St. Bernard travels to Keppel of Alhambra . . . West Torrance is the host school for the Southern Section 3-A Division wrestling finals Friday and Saturday at El Camino College. West, the division’s second-ranked team, qualified 11 wrestlers for the meet at last week’s Ocean League finals. The top four finishers in each 3-A weight class qualify for next week’s Masters Meet.